Luminous buoy for life belts



Jun@ 113, m67 D. E. GARCIA ETAL 3,324,489

LUMINOUS BUQY FOR LIFE BELTS Filed April 29, 1965 INVENTORS, DOM/N60 B/OSCA @ARC/A Daw/W60 B/OSCA GOMEZ 3,324,489 LUMINUUS BUY FOR UFE BELTS Domingo Biosca Garcia and Domingo Biosca Gomez, both of Paseo Maragall 103, Barcelona, Spain Filed Apr. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 451,748 Claims priority, application Spain, May Z2, 1964,

ii claims. icl. s-as) The present invention relates to luminous mankers.

As is well known, under certain emergency conditions it is highly desirable, particularly at night, to provide luminous markers which will make visible the location of people or equipment which are to be rescued.

The present invention relates particularly to luminous markers which are adapted to tloat on bodies of water so that the luminous marker of the invention is adapted to be used either with aircraft or sea-going vessels where there is a possibility that passengers or equipment will have to be rescued at sea.

It is conventional in luminous markers of this type to provide a material such as calcium phosphide which, as is well known, when engaged by water generates phosphine gas, by decomposition of the calcium phosphide upon contacting of the latter by the water, and this gas has the property of spontaneously igniting when it comes in contact with air.

Thus, the conventional luminous markers will provide a material such as the calcium phosphide and will arrange it in such a way that when the marker engages a body of water this water will be capable of contacting the calcium phosphide to generate the gas which ignites upon contacting the outer air.

Although luminous markers operating on this latter principle are well known, the conventional markers of this type have various drawbacks. In the iirst place, experience has shown they `are quite dangerous. One of the sources of danger resides in the fact that reliance is made on an air chamber to constitute a float by which the entire marker assembly will 'be maintained afloat on a body of water.

It has happened in the past that the combustible gas has, quite undesirably, access to the air chamber with the result that explosions occur either when the marker is on board a vessel such as a ship or aircraft and when there is no emergency, or in connection with the displacement of the marker from its usual support, the ignition of the combustible gas taking place accidentally in a premature manner causing dangerous explosions. When the conventional markers of this type are on their usual supports ready to be used, moisture has been able to have access to the calcium phosphide or the like to generate the cornbustible gas which if it can have access to the air chamber, and such access has been inadvertently provided in the past, will produce a powerful explosion.

A further drawback of the known structure of the above type resides in the fact that the material from which the comfbustile gas is generated becomes rapidly used up providing a light for only a relatively short period of time, so that if rescue is not effected within the first few hours, then the marker is of absolutely no use.

It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a luminous marker of the above general type which, however, eliminates any possibility of dangerous explosions.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a luminous marker which makes a very eilicient use of the material from which the combustible gas is generated so as to guarantee a light for a far longer period of time than has heretofore been possible with conventional luminous markers.

3,324,489 Patented .lune 13, 1967 Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a luminous marker which is automatically actuated in a foolproof manner without requiring any education of the user of the luminous marker so that under emergency conditions no attention whatsoever need be paid to the luminous marker while at the same time it will function perfectly in la fully automatic manner to provide the luminous indication of the location of the marker.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a luminous marker which is exceedingly simple and inexpensive and which is quite compact and of light weight so that no difficulties are encountered in the manufacture, storage and use of the marker of the invention.

It is furthermore lan object of the present invention to provide a luminous marker which will guarantee thorough contact between the water and all of the material from which the combustible gas is generated.

Primarily the structure of the invention includes in a luminous marker assembly, a oat means capable of iloating on a body of water and a chamber means connected to and situated `beneath the oat means and defining a chamber which is fluid-tightly closed off from the outer atmosphere. It is within this latter chamber that the material for generating the combustible gas is located. An elongated tube extends fluid-tightly through the chamber means as well as through the tloat means and has opposed upper and lower open ends, and in addition this tube is formed with at least one opening communicating with the interior of the chamber. Thus, when this construction tloats on a body of water, the water will enter through the open bottom end of the tube to pass through the opening in the wall thereof into the chamber so as to contact the material in the chamber and generate a combustible gas which issues through the open top end of the tube into engagement with the outer atmosphere to automatically become ignited and thus provide the visible signal of the location of the marker.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of the application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of one possible embodiment of a luminous marker assembly according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows the support for the structure of FIG. 1 after the structure carried thereby has been displaced therefrom into a body of water; and

FIG. 3 illustrates how the manker of the invention operates in a body of water.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the luminous marker structure illustrated therein includes a float means 1 which is made of any suitable light material capa-ble of floating on a body of Water. This float means i may be in the form of a container of light weight in which is housed a material such as a cellular plastic, or the float means 1 may simply take the form of a body of cork. In any event, according to one of the important features of the invention the oat means ll does not take the form o-f an empty chamber in which is located air which will create the danger of possible explosions.

Situated beneath and connected to the float means ll is a chamber means 2 which defines a fluid-tight chamber closed otf from the outer atmosphere, and within this chamber 2 is located the material 3 in the form of suitable crystals or the like, this material having the property of generating when contacted by water a gas which automatically burns when contacting air.

The chamber means 2 is in the form of a cup-shaped enclosure having a closed bottom end of hemispherical coniiguration and having an open top end situated directly beneath the iloat means l. The chamber means 2 further includes a closing plate 4 in the form of a wall extending across and closing the open end of the chamber means 2, this wall 4 having a periphery which extends about and engages the upper periphery of the enclosure which forms the chamber means 2, and a suitable sealing ring situated between the upper periphery of the cup-shaped enclosure and the outer periphery of the wall 4, which together with the cup-shaped enclosure forms the chamber means 2 in which the material 3 is located. The elongated oat means 1 and the elongated chamber means 2 have a common axis, and an elongated tu-be extends along this common axis completely through the float means 1 and the chamber means 2. At its bottom end, which is open, the tube 5 has an outwardly directed ange formed integrally therewith and engaging the bottom end of the cup-shaped enclosure which is formed at its bottom hemispherical wall with an opening through which the tube 5 extends in a duid-tight manner, any suitable sealing ring being provided, if necessary, at the engagement between the bottom end of the enclosure of the chamber means 2 and the outwardly directed flange at the bottom end of the tube 5. In addition, this tube 5 is fixed directly to the wall 4 which is formed With a central opening through which the tube 5 passes, and if desired, this fixing may take place through a suitable nut threaded onto a threaded portion of the tube 5 and engaging the wall 4 to press the latter against the upper periphery of the cup-shaped enclosure of the chamber means 2. The top end of the tube 5 which is also open is provided at its exterior with a thread receiving a nut 20 which presses the oat means 1 downwardly against wall 4 and the wall 4 downwardly against the enclosure 21 of the chamber means 2, this enclosure 21 in turn being pressed against the flange 22 at the bottom end of the tube 5, as indicated in FIG. 1, so that in this way the three components, namely'the tloat means 1, the chamber means 2, and the tube 5 are all assembled together.

In addition to its opposite ends being open, the tube 5 is formed with at least one opening 6 which communicates with the interior of the chamber means 2 where the material 3 is located.

In the position of the parts illustrated in FIG. l, the tube 5 together with the chamber means 2 and the float means 1 are supported on a support means which takes the form of a substantially C-shaped bracket 13 xedly mounted on any suitable railing or the like so that it is permanently connected with the vessel which carries the marker of the invention. It will be noted that the lower free end of the bracket 13 extends beneath and directly engages the ange 22 of the tube 5. The support means 13 carries a closure means '7-9` which serves to close off the interior of the tube 5 from the outer atmosp'here when the assembly of the invention has the position shown in FIG. 1. This closure means includes theV elongated rod 9 which extends freely along the interior of the tube 5 and which is pivotally connected at its top end to the free end of the bracket 13 which is opposed to that end thereof which extends beneath and supports the tube 5. This rod 9 extends through and is frictionally engaged by a pair of plugs 7 and 8 which have with respect to the rod 9 a sufcient -frictional pressure to prevent movement of the plugs 7 and 8 with respect to the rod 9 in the illustrated example. If desired, these plugs 7 and 8 can be cemented or otherwise fixed directly onto the exterior surface of the rod 9. The plugs 7 and 8 may be made of a compressible elastic material and when they are situated within the tube 5, these plugs are compressed so as to fluid-tightly close the bottom open end 10 and the upper open end 11 of the tube 5. It is to be noted that the rod 9 carries at its upper end a flange 12 which extends about and engages the top end of the tube 5 so as to limit the extent to which the rod 9 can enter into the tube 5.

The float means 1, the chamber means 2, and the tube 5 lform three basic elements of the marker which are exposed to the outer atmosphere, and a pull means is connected to one of these elements so as to automatically pull these three elements and the structure carried thereby from the support means 13 when under certain emergency conditions a life preservcr is taken with a person into water. In the illustrated example the pull means is shown as taking the form of a cord 14 which is fixed to a projection integral with the flange 22. Thus, whenever the life preservcr which is connected to the end of the cord 14 which is not visible in the drawing is displaced from the location where it is stored, the cord 14 displaces the tube 5 together with the chamber means 2 and the float means 1 from the support means 13, and the result will be that the closure means formed by the rod 9 and the plugs 7 and 8 will necessarily be displaced from the interior of the tube 5 which simply slides downwardly away from the plugs 7 and 8 in rcsponse to pulling the cord 14.

Of course, the plugs 7 and 8 can be cemented in the interior of the tube 5 and the rod 9 can pass through these plugs with suicient frictional engagement to provide a fluid-tight closure of the open ends 10 and 11 of the tube 5, and a construction of this type is shown in FlG. 2 where closure means 9 is shown after the tube 5 and plugs 7 and 8, together with the chamber means 2 and oat means 1 have been pulled from the support means 13 as well as the closure means 9.

A foraminous means is situated in the interior of the chamber means 2 so as to space the material 3 from the inner surface of the chamber means 2 as well as from the outer surface of the tube 5 at its portion which extends along the interior of the chamber means 2. This foraminous means in the illustrated example takes the form of a wire guaze 15 which extends along and lines the inner surface of the cup-shaped enclosure 21, as well as cylindrical wire gauze member 16 which surrounds the portion of the tube 5 which extends along the interior of the enclosure 21, so that in this way when the liquid enters into the interior of the chamber means 2 through the opening 6 this liquid can completely surround the material 3 which is maintained by the foraminous means 15, 16 spaced from the inner surface of the closure 21 as well as from the inner surface of the wall 4 and the outer surface of the tube 5.

As was pointed out above in connection with FIG. 2, the pulling of the tube 5 from the support 13 will automatically unplug the interior of the tube 5 so that it can now communicate with the outer atmosphere, and when the person who has taken the life preserver jumps into the water, for example, the assembly of the invention will necessarily travel with the life preservcr and will oat in the body of water in the manner indicated in FIG. 3. The float means 1, whether it be made of cork or cellular plastic, situated in a suitable container or simply exposed to the outer atmosphere, is designed so that the entire assembly will float on the body of water at an elevation such as that shown in FIG. 3. At this particular elevation it will be noted that the chamber means 2 is completely submerged and, of course, the water is free to enter through the lower open end 10 along the interior of the tube 5 and some of this water will pass through the opening 6 into the interior of the chamber means 2 so as to contact 4the material 3. This material may be in the form of calcium phosphide crystals which upon being contacted by the water will generate a gas, but initially the gas will be trapped within the chamber means 2 because the water itself closes the opening 6. As the gas continues to be generated, however, its pressure increases and it displaces the water out of the chamber means 2 until the gas can escape through the opening 6 and pass upwardly along the tube 5 to the outer atmosphere through the opening 11 where the gas will contact the open air so as to automatically form the flame 17 indicated in FIG. 3. The escape of the generated gas from the interior of the chamber means 2 will reduce the pressure therein so that the water can now again enter into the chamber, closing the opening 6 and interrupting the ow of gas, and this operation automatically repeats itself so that an intermittent llame 17 is provided. When the pressure of the gas in the chamber means 2 again increases sufli-ciently it will first stop water from entering through the opening 6 and then as the pressure continues to increase it will overcome the pressure of the water and the gas will escape through the column of water in the tube by and through the opening 11 into the outer atmosphere. Depending upon the particular diameter of the opening 6 through which the water enters and the gas leaves, it is possible to regulate the rate of gas production, and in this Way it is possible to regulate the intensity and duration of the light flashes. Therefore, a flame which will be intermittently provided over long periods of time, is guaranteed because of the intermittent consumption of the gas-generating material. With this construction, also a very easily visible signal is provided because of the intermittent nature of the llame.

Thus, it will be seen that with the structure of the invention since there is no air chamber relied upon as a float, the structure is very safe, and at the same time the automatic intermittent consumption of the gas-generating material guarantees production of a signal over a long period of time.

Although the size of the structure of the invention can vary, with an actual structure a flame 17 of from 5 to 50 cm. height and with a very brilliant light was provided and this darne was visible from long distances in the darkness of the sea.

What is claimed is:

l. In a luminous marker assembly, upper float means adapted to float on a body of water, lower chamber means connected to and situated wholly beneath said upper float means and defining a hollow chamber, a closure plate extending across the upper end of said hollow chamber to close off said hollow chamber from said upper float means and the outer atmosphere, and an elongated tube extending through said chamber means and float means, being fluid-tightly connected to said chamber means, and having opposed open upper and lower ends, so that when said upper iioat means floats in a body of water with said chamber means situated beneath said upper float means, water can enter into said tube through said open lower end thereof, said chamber being adapted to contain a material which upon being contacted by water generates a gas which will automatically burn upon contacting the outer air and said tube being formed with at least one opening communicating with the interior of said chamber so that when the latter is submerged in a body of water with said float means floating on the body of water, the water will enter through said opening into said chamber to generate therein a combustible gas which issues from said chamber through the interior of said tube, and out through the open upper end of the latter to contact the outer air 4and thus provide a visible ame.

2. In an assembly as recited in claim 1, support means removably supporting said oat means and chamber means together with said tube for movement from said support means into a body of water, and closure means extending longitudinally through said tube for releasably closing said ends of said tube to prevent access of water to the interior of said chamber means and escape of gas from the latter to the outer atmosphere while said closure means closes said tube, said closure means being operatively connected to said support means to 'be automatically removed from said tube for opening the latter upon displacement of said oat means and chamber, together with said tube, away from said support means into a body of water.

3. In an assembly as recited in claim 1, foraminous means lining the interior of said chamber and the portion of said tube in the interior of said chamber, at the outer surface of said portion of said tube, so that the material which generates the combustible gas upon being contacted by water, is spaced from the tube and from the inner surface of said chamber means to be contacted on all sides by water which can freely flow through said foraminous means.

4. In an assembly as recited in claim 3, said foraminous means being a wire gauze.

5. In a luminous marker assembly, upper lioat means adapted to oat on a body of water, lower chamber means connected to and situated beneath said upper float means and defining a hollow chamber which is closed olf from said upper iloat means and the outer atmosphere, and an elongated tube extending through said chamber means and float means, being fluid-tightly connected to said chamber means, and having opposed open upper and lower ends, so that when said upper float means floats in a body of water with said chamber means situated beneath said upper float means, water can enter into said tube through said open lower end thereof, said chamber being adapted to contain a material which upon being contacted by water generates a gas which will automatically burn upon contacting the outer air and said tube being formed with at least one opening communicating with the interior of said chamber so that when the latter is submerged in a body of water with said float means floating on the body of water, the water will enter through said opening into said chamber to generate therein a combustible gas which issues from said chamber through the interior of said tube, and out through the open upper end of the latter to contact the outer air and thus provide a visible flame, said iloat means and chamber means having a common axis along which said tube extends, a bracket engaging said tube at the ends thereof for releasably supporting said tube together with said float means and chamber means for movement from said bracket into a body of water, and elongated closure means pivotally connected at one end to said bracket and extending into the interior of said tube for fluid-tightly closing the opposed open ends thereof to prevent water from having access to said chamber and to prevent gas from escaping from the interior of said tube to the outer atmosphere as long as said tube is carried by said bracket, said clos-ure means remaining connected to said bracket when said tube together with said float means and charnber means are displaced from said gracket into a body of water, so that said closure means then leaves the interior of said tube to open the opposed ends thereof.

6. In an assembly as recited in claim 5', said closure means including an elongated rod pivotally connected at one end to said bracket and a pair of plugs surrounding said rod and situated in the interior of said tube adjacent to the opposed ends thereof for closing said ends.

7. In an asembly as recited in claim 6, said plugs being fixed to said rod so as to be displaced from the interior of said tube together with said rod when said tube and said float means and chamber means therewith are displaced from said bracket into a body of water.

8. A luminous marker assembly comprising elongated float means adapted to oat on a body of water, chamber means connected to and situated wholly beneath said float means and forming an extension thereof, said chamber means defining a hollow chamber which is closed off from the outer atmosphere and which is adapted to contain a material which upon being contacted by water generates a gas which automatically burns when contacting the outer air, said lioat means and chamber means having a common axis, an elongated tube extending along said common axis through said float means and chamber means and having opposed open ends, said tube being formed with at least one opening communicating with the interior of said chamber means and said tube otherwise being fluid-tightly connected to said chamber means, a lining of wire gauze lining the interior of said chamber means to maintain material therein spaced from the inner surface of said chamber means and the outer surface of that portion of said tube which is in the interior of said chamber means, a bracket releasably supporting said tube together with said oat means and chamber means for removal from said bracket into a Ibody of water, closure means carried by said bracket and extending into said t'ube for fluid-tightly closing the interior thereof from the outer atmosphere as long as said bracket supports said tube together with said oat means and chamber means, said float means, chamber means, and tube forming three elements which have surfaces exposed to the outer atmosphere, and pull means operatively connected to one of said elements for pulling the latter together with the other two elements away from said support means into a body of water, said closure means remaining connected to said bracket so as to be displaced from the interior of said tube when the latter together with said oat means and chamber means are displaced from said bracket into a body of water.

9. In a luminous marker assembly, an elongated tube having opposed open ends and carrying at one of its open ends an outwardly directed ange, the other of said ends of said tube being threaded at the exterior of said tube, an elongated cup-shaped enclosure having a closed end and an opposed open end, said closed end of said enclosure being formed with a central opening through which said tube duid-tightly extends with said closed end engaging said ange of said tube, a wall formed with an opening through which said tube fluid-tightly extends, said wall extending across and duid-tightly closing the open end of said enclosure, a float through which said tube extends, said float engaging said wall at a surface thereof which is directed away from the interior of said enclosure, a nut threadedly carried by said tube at said threaded end thereof and pressing said float against said wall, said wall against said enclosure, and said enclosure against said flange, said tube being formed of an opening communicating with the interior of said enclosure and said enclosure being adapted to contain a material which upon being contacted `by water generates a gas which burns in the outer air, a bracket engaging one end of said tube to support the latter and the structure carried thereby at a position ready to be displaced into a body of water, and closure means carried by said bracket and extending into said tube for fluid-tightly closing off the interior thereof from the outer atmosphere as long as said tube is supported by said bracket, said closure means remaining with said bracket when said tube is displaced therefrom so as to open said tube automatically.

10. In an assembly as recited in claim 9, said elongated cup-shaped enclosure being connected to an end of said bracket opposed from an end thereof which engages and supports said tube.

11. In an assembly as recited in claim 10, said bracket having a substantially C-shaped conguration.

References Cited UNTED STATES PATENTS 134,058 12/1872 Holmes 98.3 1,322,902 11/1919 Holmes 9-8.3 1,548,724 8/1925 Mann 9--8.3

MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

T. MAJOR, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A LUMINOUS MARKER ASSEMBLY, UPPER FLOAT MEANS ADAPTED TO FLOAT ON A BODY OF WATER, LOWER CHAMBER MEANS CONNECTED TO AND SITUATED WHOLLY BENEATH SAID UPPER FLOAT MEANS AND DEFINING A HOLLOW CHAMBER, A CLOSURE PLATE EXTENDING ACROSS THE UPPER END OF SAID HOLLOW CHAMBER TO CLOSE OFF SAID HOLLOW CHAMBER FROM SAID UPPER FLOAT MEANS AND THE OUTER ATMOSPHERE, AND AN ELONGATED TUBE, EXTENDING THROUGH SAID CHAMBER MEANS AND FLOAT MEANS, BEING FLUID-TIGHTLY CONNECTED TO SAID CHAMBER MEANS, AND HAVING OPPOSED OPEN UPPER AND LOWER ENDS, SO THAT WHEN SAID UPPER FLOAT MEANS FLOATS IN A BODY OF WATER WITH SAID CHAMBER MEANS SITUATED BENEAT SAID UPPER FLOAT MEANS, WATER CAN ENTER INTO SAID TUBE THROUGH SAID OPEN LOWER END THEREOF, SAID CHAMBER BEING ADAPTED TO CONTAIN A MATERIAL WHICH UPON BEING CONTACTED BY WATER GENERATES A GAS WHICH WILL AUTOMATICALLY BURN UPON CONTACTING THE OUTER AIR AND SAID TUBE BEING FORMED WITH AT LEAST ONE OPENING COMMUNICATING WITH THE INTERIOR OF SAID CHAMBER SO THAT WHEN THE LATTER IS SUBMERGED IN A BODY OF WATER WITH SAID FLOAT MEANS FLOATING ON THE BODY OF WATER, THE WATER WILL ENTER THROUGH SAID OPENING INTO SAID CHAMBER TO GENERATE THEREIN ACOMBUSTIBLE GAS WHICH ISSUES FROM SAID CHAMBER THROUGH THE INTERIOR OF SAID TUBE, AND OUT THROUGH THE OPEN UPPER END OF THE LATTER TO CONTACT THE OUTER AIR AND THUS PROVIDE A VISIBLE FLAME. 